A high speed finish line spin by Adrian Sutil cost Force India a shot at Q3 in the Australian Grand Prix qualifying.
Coming out of the final turn, Sutil lost the rear as he ran wide onto the kerb before saving a collision with the pitlane wall with a daring 360 degree spin.
Sutil was metres from the finish line on a hot lap that could have propelled him into Q3 and a chance of a strong grid position before losing control.
The young German reflected on the incident which sees him start in 16th, two places behind rookie teammate Paul Di Resta who looked at home in F1.
He said: “During qualifying itself our speed was ok and better than expected. On my flying lap in Q2 I was only a few hundred metres from the finish line when I ran wide on the kerb, lost the rear and had a spin.
“It is a shame because I was on for a 1:26.1 so I could have been in the region of P12. It’s looking quite good for the race tomorrow; for sure we have opportunities to pass people with the rear wing and KERS, so let's see how it goes.”
Despite only qualifying on rows seven and eight Otmar Szafnauer, chief operating officer, was optimistic about the chance of points in the race tomorrow.
He added: “Australia is a race renowned for its high rate of attrition and we feel confident that our tried and tested KERS hybrid system and overall reliability will hold us in good stead.
“We have paid close attention to our tyre strategy today as we believe that tyre choice and management will impact significantly on performance throughout the grid tomorrow.
“Whilst it would have been preferable to qualify higher up the grid, we are targeting race points and look forward to getting the season underway.”
